1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to land vehicles and, more particularly, to an improved suspension system for yieldably mounting the power pack in an armored vehicle such as a tank.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The modern armored vehicle is driven by a power pack which comprises an engine, transmission, and ancillary support subsystems such as oil coolers, inlet filters, exhaust stacks, and the like. The suspension system for positioning and supporting the power pack in the vehicle must have the capability of satisfying a number of important requirements. In a first instance, it must be structurally compatible with the major components of which the power pack is comprised. It must be compact, not occupying space required for other systems. It should be easily accessible, for maintenance, including replacement of vital components. It must be flexible to accommodate distortions of the frame or hull of the vehicle during operation. Additionally, it must be survivable, that is, redundancy must be provided to compensate for battle damage.
It has been customary to support the power pack on the frame of the vehicle at three locations with each of these three supports being of a substantially non-yielding construction. Such a known system allows six degrees of structural freedom and eliminates the possibility of introducing loads generated by deflections of the vehicle hull into the power pack components.
The drawback of this arrangement, however, is that if one of the mounting supports fails, the power pack ceases to function effectively. To avoid this condition, it is possible to incorporate an additional support into the system. This would guarantee the continued effective operation of the power pack in the event of failure at a single location.
The drawback indigenous to the known system is that it is redundant structurally and permits hull loads to be reacted into the power pack components with the likelihood of overstressing them. Therefore, the most effective mounting system from a structural standpoint would be one that provides power pack support redundancy without allowing the introduction of hull generated external loads into the power pack components. The suspension system of the invention achieves this goal.